Amazon Just Called to Say It Loves You, And Please Update Your Kindle

In the month and a half since Amazon first announced the mandatory Kindle ereader firmware update, they've sent emails, post cards, and more emails to remind Kindle owners that they have to update their ereaders. (This story has gotten so much attention that even Snopes weighed in, confirming that this is not a hoax.)

And now Amazon has taken the reminder process to a whole new level. The retailer is reported calling Kindle owners to remind them about the update. I haven't gotten a call myself (perhaps because I've complained about Amazon stalking me on Twitter), but I've heard from a reliable source who has.

Today, however, Amazon took it one step further. We actually got a recorded phone call at the house from Amazon reminding us that we need to update our Kindles in order to keep accessing the Kindle libraries and Amazon’s servers. The recorded message, which was repeated twice, re-iterated the instructions on theKindle update page and emphasized that Amazon customer service was available any time to offer assistance by calling 1-866-321-8851.

The recording instructed us to please disregard the message if we had already updated within the last few days.

Crazy, isn't it?

Well, it's going to get worse. My inside source has told me that Amazon will soon be sending telegrams to Kindle owners, carrier pigeons, and drones. (Speaking of which, I've just realized why a package containing a fax machine is sitting on my porch. Maybe I should go plug it in.)

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Nate Hoffelder is the founder and editor of The Digital Reader:"I've been into reading ebooks since forever, but I only got my first ereader in July 2007. Everything quickly spiraled out of control from there. Before I started this blog in January 2010 I covered ebooks, ebook readers, and digital publishing for about 2 years as a part of MobileRead Forums. It's a great community, and being a member is a joy. But I thought I could make something out of how I covered the news for MobileRead, so I started this blog."

I was going to say that my copy of K4PC hadn’t been updated, but when I opened it a minute ago, to make certain of the time of the last update, the software asked me to wait while it updated automatically. (I had previously checked the box to enable automatic updates when I installed the software.)

Does anyone actually know what critical new or updated feature has been added to the software? I can’t see any vendor going to this much trouble for a bug fix, or for anything else that is minor.

I believe the update was to fix an imminently expiring SSL certificate. If the certificate expired, you’d no longer be able to access the store, get updates, etc, as it would stop trusting Amazon’s servers.

I work at a public library, and patrons have started calling, very frantic about this after it was reported in the news yesterday. Maybe next Amazon will be sending libraries posters to put out in the lobby?

I need help updating my “original kindle” which I ordered when it was first advertised on The Oprah Show by Jeff Bezos for approx.$300. I was not notified probably because my email address changed from bellsouth.net to a gmail.com account. Please advise. Thank you, Virginia Cross